Interest in Blockchain Remains High, Despite Crypto Bear Market

Earlier today, the Asia wing of respected news publication Forbes hosted a blockchain conference for the continents most wealthy families and individuals. The event, titled “Decrypting Blockchain for Business” drew in around 130 of Asia’s most influential people keen to better understand the implications of the much-hyped, potentially revolutionary technology.

Presenting at the event were some of the technology’s most respected pioneers who were able to see the potential in blockchain before others. One of the many sessions was delivered by Anderson Tanoto, director of manufacturing giant Royal Golden Eagle (RGE).

Tanoto played a key role in launching the blockchain supply chain initiative, Sustainability Assurance & Innovation Alliance (SUSTAIN) – aimed at moving RGE’s supply chain to the blockchain. According to a report in Forbes, he spoke about the difference between crypto investors and those experimenting more generally with the technology:

“There are two herds of people in blockchain. Those who want to get rich off crypto, and those who want to change the world with blockchain. I would like to associate myself with the second group.”

Supply chain management was just one of the many potential uses for blockchain technology presented at the event.

Other speakers included Janil Putcheary, Singapore minister, who presented on blockchain applications for the nation’s government; Bobby Lee, BTCC founder; Tinku Gupta, the executive vice president of the Singapore Stock Exchange; and Jehan Chu, co-founder of blockchain development company Kenetic.

Although much of the event was dedicated to blockchain technology rather than cryptocurrencies per se, some time was given to the subject of digital assets. In one session, Changpeng Zhao “CZ”, Binance founder, had a lengthy, on-stage chat with Forbes reporter Pamela Ambler.

Much of the conversation was focused on ways to help digital currency use become more widely adopted. CZ stated:

“Fundamentally, I would like to see payment adoption increase. That’s the original intent, but for some reason that’s not taking off, so we’re pushing really hard into that space.”

The Binance co-founder also focused on his company’s plans to launch its own blockchain for digital token issuance and creating initial coin offerings (ICOs) like those offered on Ethereum and other smart contract platforms. The Binance Chain is expected to go live in early 2019.

Finally, Matthew Roszak, the co-founder and chairman of tokenisation specialist Bloq, also delivered a presentation on the potential for investors wanting to get involved in the space, as well as a more general view of the current state of the industry:

“Hype is turning into pragmatism, but we see the momentum there… This is a good time when we see these lulls to think about your strategy and your approach to the space.”